Interview Custodela: Ingrid, political activist

Ingrid is living in Vienna, Austria. She is a young mother and political activist, as a member of the Identitarians.

Ingrid, can you tell us what are the Identitarians about? What is their purpose, their goals, their means and their actions?

The Austrian Identitarian Movent (Identitäre Bewegung, IB) exist since 2012 and originates from France (Genération Identitaire). The IB is a pan-european youth movement, with several hundred patriots who want to maintain their ethnocultural identity. The term ethnocultural identity summits all up what we’re made of: homeland, tradition, nation, culture, language, heritage, family, etc. We want a variety instead of sameness, which means to preserve our ethnocultural identity, but respect and esteem the others. That’s why we differentiate ourselves from the “old right” and clearly reject national socialism, fascism, racism and antisemitism. Europe is facing real threats from all sides: on the one hand, the increasing Americanisation as a side effect of globalism and on the other hand, the Islamisation of our society, as a by-product of mass immigration. We don’t want to participate in the mainstream, political discourse, we want to change it. Activism is a crucial factor, because we want our message to be heard and to reach as much people as possible.

How did you got involved into politics? Have you had a bad experience with immigration?

I was always interested in politics in general, but did not wanted to be part of a political party. In 2013, during my first month in Vienna, I already witnessed two criminal acts caused by Muslim immigrants. I was living in an immigrant district and the culture shock I experienced there, brought up some questions. When I tried to talk about the issues of immigration with my fellow colleges at university, nobody was interested, in fact they denied the existence of the issue itself. So I searched the internet and found the Vlogs of Martin Sellner on Youtube, the Co-Founder of the IB, who finally called a spade a spade. Especially the Fact, that the IB understand itself as a metapolitical movement and that it will never be a (part of) a political party was very tempting to me. After meeting up with the Identitarians, I was thrilled by the enormous effort and energy they invest in their work. Next day I took part in the daily activism and since than I’m involved.

What is the situation now in Austria regarding the immigration? What is done by the government? What want the Identitarians?

The refugee movement is increasing at the moment. Even though, the Slovenian border is kept controlled and it seems the situation is in hand – on the other side, at the Italian border, there is an influx of refugees coming to Austria day by day. After closing the Balkan route, the main route seems to be the Mediterranean See due to already 154.000 Migrants passed through Austria this year. As long as the Austrian government don’t close the borders to Italy, there will be more uncontrolled Mass migration into Austria and western Europe. It seems that the government, despite the open failure of the EU, is still committed to the false song of Multiculturalism. The IB open and urgent demands the government to:
1. Secure the borders – Secure borders are necessary, to ensure safety and stability for a sustained refugee policy. A land with overflown capacity isn’t able to help others.
2. On-site assistance – The migration flows will end, as soon the people have a promising future in their homeland. We want to support the threatened people, to build up a future in their home.
3. Remigration – The government by breaking the law, let hundred thousand illegal migrants in our country. If we don’t want to end in self-abandonment, we need a humanely reversal of the immigrant flows.

Despise the current difficult situation, you had a child – congratulations! Aren’t you afraid of the future? How will you prepare your child to tomorrow’s world?

Of course, there are moments when I feel afraid and insecure about our future. But then, when I look at my child, all of a sudden beside love, I feel courage too. The courage, to conquer that fear and to go out on the streets, do some activism, talk to people and make the Reconquista happen. Because what can be more important in life, than to fight for the future of our children?

Until we reached our goals, I’m sure I’ll do my best to keep my children safe as possible, but also make sure, that they know what they’re worth and learn how to defend themselves on the streets.